Ash Brown

Manga the Week of 5/4

April 28, 2016 by Sean Gaffney, Ash Brown, Michelle Smith, MJ and Anna N Leave a Comment

SEAN: Let’s face it, there are no light weeks anymore. There’s 21 titles next week, and that’s our new normal. We just have to accept it, manga is popular again.

ASH: All right!

MICHELLE: Yay! Now, can we have back some of those series that disappeared in less prosperous times? Like Silver Diamond? Please?

MJ: I’ll second Michelle on this. :)

ANNA: Silver Diamond, Demon Sacred, I could go on!

SEAN: Dark Horse gives us a 5th volume of Oreimo: Kuroneko, showing that non-canon love interests are always more popular than canon ones, especially when they aren’t related.

Seven Seas gives us a 7th volume of underrated techno-thriller Arpeggio of Blue Steel.

Shomin Sample is a harem comedy based on a light novel, whose title I am abbreviating as it’s too long, and I think that says it all. Vol. 1 comes out from Seven Seas next week.

And there’s a second Testament of Sister New Devil, whose title I actually got wrong in my review of the first volume, it’s that hard for me to keep straight.

Vertical has a 2nd volume of Nichijou, whose first volume I was delighted to see was a big hit. Keep it up!

MICHELLE: I will soon be catching up on Nichijou!

SEAN: There’s a Takeshi Obata artbook coming out, blanc et noir, whose title is very e.e. cummings. MJwill, I’m sure, have more to say.

ASH: My copy arrived early, and it’s gorgeous. The volume includes a fair amount of art from Death Note, but also from Hikaru no Go and some of Obata’s other works, too.

MJ: I haven’t seen this, but you can bet I’ll be picking it up. Whatever I have thought about some of his collaborations, I’ve always loved his artwork. This is a must-buy.

SEAN: Relive those days when everything was Aizen with the 15th Bleach 3-in-1 omnibus.

Blue Exorcist also has a 15th volume, and finally wraps up the Izumo arc, I believe.

Dragon Ball Full Color adds Freeza Arc to its title, in case people had forgotten which edition they were re-re-re-rebuying.

The Heiress and the Chauffeur is Viz’s debut this month, and give it’s a LaLa DX series I am contractually obligated to love it. It’s also only 2 volumes, so not a huge investment. Also, Taisho era!

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to this one, though preemptively sad that it’s so short.

MJ: Same here!

ANNA: Not surprisingly I am too!

SEAN: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has been given the go-ahead for hardcovers of the previously released 3rd arc, which is great news. First though, it’s back to Joseph for the 3rd volume of Battle Tendency.

ASH: I’ve really been enjoying these releases. I hope Viz will pick up the later arcs, too!

ANNA: I need to get caught up!

SEAN: Kimi ni Todoke has seemingly finished with its Ayane angst, and so I suspect the 24th volume will give a bit more focus to the other two major couples.

With its 4th volume of omnibuses, Maid-sama! has finally caught up with the Tokyopop releases, and so will feature all new material next time.

MICHELLE: As problematic as this series is, I still wanna see what happens in the volumes we never saw before. Hey, you know what else could get rescued as a 2-in-1 omnibus? Silver Diamond!

MJ: Heh.

SEAN: My Hero Academia 4 has more to tell us about superheroes.

The new Naruto novel is technically called Sakura’s Story, but I’ve heard that Sakura fans are going to be disappointed. Still, it’s Naruto, you have to get all 6 novels to complete the set.

Nisekoi has reached 15 volumes, and it’s still trying to balance its high-wire harem act.

One Piece. 78 volumes. Still in Dressrosa.

One-Punch Man is at its 6th volume. Sadly, this volume has no punching… I kid. There’s always punching.

ASH: I’m still greatly enjoying One-Punch Man.

MICHELLE: I am starting to feel like maybe I would like this.

MJ: You would.

ANNA: I feel like One-Punch Man should be universally beloved.

SEAN: Oresama Teacher reached the big 2-0! Have we learned all of Hayasaka’s secrets? And what of poor, neglected Super Bun?

ANNA: Where is Super Bun? The world wants to know!!!

SEAN: And World Trigger is up to double digits, increasing exponentially the likelihood that I will never succeed in catching up to it.

Lastly, Yu-Gi-Oh has a 6th 3-in-1. Collect ‘em all!

Which of these manga titles makes you cry out in ecstasy and rapture?

Manga Giveaway: Superhero Duo (Batmanga and Ultraman)

April 27, 2016 by Ash Brown

The end of the month once more draws near which means it’s once more time for a manga giveaway at Experiments in Manga! For this month’s giveaway you all have the chance to win not one, but two manga of the superheroic nature, a mix of the old and the new as well as the East and the West: Batmanga, Volume 1 by Jiro Kuwata from DC Comics and Ultraman, Volume 1 by Eiichi Shimizu and Tomohiro Shimoguchi from Viz Media. And, as always, the giveaway is open worldwide, too!

It’s a little strange: I would never really go out of my way to describe myself as a fan of superhero comics, nor is it a genre that I specifically seek out. And yet, when I do end up reading about superheroes, I often find that I enjoy myself. Over the last few years, manga featuring superheros seem to have become increasingly common in English, whether it’s a classic like Jiro Kuwata’s Batmanga inspired by American comics or a modern take on a well-established Japanese franchise like Eiichi Shimizu and Tomohiro Shimoguchi’s Ultraman. Some superhero manga are fairly serious, but there have been quite a few with a comedic bent of late as well, such as One-Punch Man by One and Yusuke Murata and My Hero Academia by Kohei Horikoshi. And I have to admit, I’ve enjoyed them all.

So, you may be wondering, how can you win a duo of superhero manga?

1) In the comments below, tell me a little about one of your favorite manga featuring superheroes and why you like it. (If you don’t have a favorite, or haven’t read any superhero manga, simply mention that.)
2) If you’re on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting, or retweeting, about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that’s me).

And there you have it! Everyone participating in the giveaway can earn up to two entries and has one week to submit comments. If preferred or needed, entries can also be emailed to me directly at phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com. Those comments will then be posted here in your name. The winner of the giveaway will be randomly selected and announced on May 4, 2016. Good luck to you all!

VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address in the comment form, a link to your website, Twitter username, or whatever. If I can’t figure out how to get a hold of you and you win, I’ll just draw another name.

Contest winner announced–Manga Giveaway: Superhero Duo Winner

Pick of the Week: Fond Farewells

April 25, 2016 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown, Anna N and MJ Leave a Comment

SEAN: Sorry, Planetes. Sorry, Sidonia. Sorry, Emma. Sorry, Horimiya. You’re all awesome. But my pick of the week has to be the 36th and final volume of The Wallflower. Through the years of the changeover from Del Rey, to the occasional tired pawing at character development, through the author’s complete and utter inability to write romance, I have supported you. I salute you, comedy shoujo manga that ran far too long.

MICHELLE: Similarly, I am offering apologies to Horimiya this week (and Yowamushi Pedal, too) and going with a series finale for my pick of the week, though in my case I’m going with Knights of Sidonia. Delightfully weird and worrying, this has been a fantastic series, and I hope the conclusion is a satisfying one, even as I wish it weren’t ending at all.

ASH: Wow, there are so many wonderful releases to choose from this week! I’m certainly looking forward to reading more of Yowamushi Pedal and finishing Knights of Sidonia, and I’m thrilled that Emma is being released again, but this is the last time that I can choose Planetes. I’m so happy to see the series back in print in an edition that’s worth upgrading to, so that’s my pick for the week!

ANNA: It is rare that there are so many great titles being released at the same time! I’m going to pick Emma, just because I feel like highlighting a great reprint project! I’m happy that this is back in print again!

MJ: So much to choose from! I’m so torn here, as I’mm excited for Emma, Yowamushi Pedal, *and* Horimiya, but in the end I think I must go with Knights of Sidonia, which has been a deep and longstanding love for me, the end of which I will surely mourn.

My Week in Manga: April 18-April 24, 2016

April 25, 2016 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

As I recently mentioned, for a while here I’ll be down to one review a week or so at Experiments in Manga. And so, last week’s review was of The Inugami Clan by Seishi Yokomizo, a popular Japanese murder mystery from the early 1950s that has sadly gone out of print in English. Currently, the novel is the only work by Yokomizo that has been translated, but I enjoyed it a great deal. It vaguely reminded me a bit of Edogawa Rampo’s work, which I don’t at all consider to be a bad thing.

Elsewhere online: YALSA’s 2016 Great Graphic Novels for Teen was recently announced, which includes a fair number of manga, as were the 2016 Eisner Award Nominees. Forbes interviewed Yoshiki Tanaka, the author of The Legend of the Galactic Heroes (a series I hope to find time to actually read sooner rather than later). At du9, Adrian Tomine was interviewed about editing Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s manga for Drawn & Quarterly. And in licensing news, Dark Horse will be releasing Ontama’s Hatsune Miku: Mikubon.

Quick Takes

Forget Me Not, Volume 1 written by Mag Hsu and illustrated by Nao Emoto. I knew very little about Forget Me Not before reading the first volume. In fact, I didn’t even recall that it had been licensed until the release was in my hands. Forget Me Not is about Yusuke Serizawa, a young man who seems to have terrible luck when it comes to romance, but it’s the sort of bad luck that he’s partly responsible for. The first volume alone features his attempts at three different relationships with three different loves that he had between middle school and high school. Most of them have their sweet moments, but there are also moments that Serizawa will intensely regret for years. He blames himself for the relationships ending in ruin, and in some cases rightly so. The reason that Forget Me Not focuses on Serizawa’s past and the women in it is that one of them recently helped to save his life after he was in a motorcycle accident. Except that he isn’t sure exactly who it is. He’d like to meet her, but he’s also certain that whoever it is he’s done her some great harm, which may explain why it seems like she’s toying with him by keeping her identity secret.

Snackies by Nick Sumida. I had a fairly good idea that I would enjoy Snackies, but I don’t think I anticipated just how much I would end up enjoying it. Snackies is a slim volume containing short comics which are at least semi-autobiographically inspired. Many of the comics stand on their own or aren’t necessarily connected to one another, but others are part of short series which become increasingly ridiculous and bizarre, such as the set of comics in which Sumida spies fellow passengers on mass transit who initially seem attractive, but who then turn out to have a really bad haircut or just so happen to be an alien that would aesthetically belong in something like Parasyte. And then there are the comics that seem to come completely out of nowhere. Though at times fairly cynical, playing on the angst and self-deprecation of a young artist, Snackies is very funny. It also has a queer bent to it which I especially enjoyed and appreciated. Snackies doesn’t take long to read, but it gives enough of a taste that I hope to see more of Sumida’s work in the future.

Tramps Like Us, Volumes 1-5 by Yayoi Ogawa. I’ve been meaning to read Tramps Like Us for quite some time. It really is a shame that it took me so long to get around to it, because so far I’m absolutely loving the manga. Sumire is highly accomplished, attractive, and well-educated career woman, which unfortunately intimidates her fiancé who feels inadequate in comparison and leaves her for someone else. As a result, Sumire is determined to only date men who are paid more, are better educated, and are taller than she is. Around the same time, Sumire gains a “pet,” a homeless twenty-something ballet dancer that she takes in off of the street and calls Momo. Sumire’s peculiar but earnest relationship with Momo is marvelous. Though they have their disagreements and their communication isn’t always the best, both of them find great comfort in the other. He’s the only person she feels truly at ease with. But then Sumire is reunited with an old flame who she still loves and who happens to meet all of her dating requirements, but their relationship is strained. It’s a strange sort of set up and love-triangle, but all of the varied emotions are convincingly real.

Manga the Week of 4/27

April 21, 2016 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown, Anna N and MJ Leave a Comment

SEAN: Soooo much manga. Scary… manga is scary.

MICHELLE: Holy cow. You aren’t kidding!

SEAN: Dark Horse has the 2nd and final Planetes omnibus, and if you haven’t read this series yet I urge you all to do so. It is a treat.

ASH: So glad to see the entire series back in print!

ANNA: Agreed, this is a special series that deserves to be in print.

SEAN: DMP has a rare print release with the third volume of I’ve Seen It All.

ASH: The first two volumes were ridiculous in a good sort of way, so I’ll be picking this one up, too.

SEAN: Kodansha has a large number of things out next week. The Fairy Tail spinoff Fairy Girls has a second volume.

And the giant omnibus Fairy Tail Master’s Edition sees a giant Volume 2.

Genshiken 2nd Season’s 8th volume continues to focus on who Madarame will pick from the harem he’s picked up. Knowing Madarame, the answer is likely to be “none”, but we shall see.

ASH: I was always rather fond of Madarame.

SEAN: And a 2nd volume of magical harem series Maga-Tsuki.

Missions of Love is up to 12 volumes, and the author is ready to introduce yet another unlikeable character who will get in the way of our unlikeable leads. (Just the way we like it, I hasten to add.)

ASH: Yup!

SEAN: It’s the final, 36th volume of The Wallflower! “Final” and “The Wallflower” are words I never thought I’d write, but here we are. Will it resolve the romance? I highly doubt it. Will it be funny? Far more likely.

ANNA: Wow, this was a loooong series. I enjoyed the fist few volumes but did not have the stamina to continue reading.

SEAN: Your Lie in April has a 7th volume. Is it tragic yet, or still cute and romantic?

ASH: It can be both!

SEAN: Seven Seas gives us an 8th volume of D-Frag!, which will never be tragic or romantic, and barely manages cute, but it’s still hilarious.

You may recall that Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto 3 has been on this list before. The dangers of last-minute release date shuffles. Well, it’s still worth getting.

ASH: That it is. Hopefully the recent anime will give this series a boost.

SEAN: The same cannot really be said for Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn’s 4th volume, though it is a step above some of the other boob-obsessed titles out at the moment. But only a small step.

Vertical gives us a 15th volume of Knights of Sidonia, and as always I just hope some of the cast survives.

MICHELLE: I believe this is the final volume, as well, which seems too soon. I am anxiously awaiting this one and will have to resist the strong urge to flip to the end.

MJ: Oh, Knights of Sidonia, I love you so.

SEAN: There are two new Yen Digital debuts, but before we get to those, there’s new volumes for Aoharu x Machinegun (which gets print soon), Black Detective, Corpse Princess, Saki, and Unknown, as well as the digital debut of The Devil Is a Part-Timer! and its High School!! spinoff. I need to catch up on Saki.

ASH: Saki!

MJ: I need to catch up as well!

SEAN: As for the debuts, we have the first volume of Grim Reaper and Four Girlfriends, about a weak, shoujo-manga loving guy who has to stop being such a loser of he’ll be killed, so he asks out four girls all at once, assuming they’ll all reject him. The trouble starts when they all say yes. Harem antics ensue. This ran in Gangan Joker.

Little Witch’s Collier (not collar, for some reason) is a GFantasy series that I don’t know much about, but I’m hoping that one of the GFantasy fans of Manga Bookshelf can take a look and tell me.

Yen Press also has its regular old pile of releases. Akame Ga Kill! chugs along with Vol. 6.

And Barakamon has reached double digits with its 10th volume. Soon it will pass Yotsuba&!.

A Certain Magical Index manga volume 5 adapts Novel Volume 5, as it decided to skip Angel Fall entirely.

Emma’s fourth omnibus actually brings to an end the main storyline, but don’t worry, we get enough epilogues and side stories for a whole other omnibus after this.

ASH: Thrilled to see this series back in print, too! Yen Press has done a beautiful job with the new edition.

ANNA: Yay!

MJ: This has been such a wonderful release for me, as I missed it the first time around. As Ash said, beautiful editions!

SEAN: Final Fantasy Type-0 Side Story 4 Part A, Second Shift, Behind the Bike-Sheds: A New Beginning.

I’ve dropped First Love Monster as being a bit too creepy for my taste, but for those who have not, the 4th volume is here.

Handa-kun, Barakamon’s prequel, gets a 2nd volume.

High School DxD has somehow reached Volume 8. Has anyone fallen into a girl’s breasts yet? I bet they have.

MICHELLE: Probably multiple times.

SEAN: I’ve enjoyed Horimiya immensely, so its third volume is near the top of my list.

MICHELLE: Same here!

ASH: Horimiya was a wonderfully pleasant surprise!

ANNA: I feel like I’m missing out!

MICHELLE: In this case, I would say that, yes, literally you are missing out. As a fellow shoujo lover, even though this is not technically shoujo, I am very confident you would love it. If you jump on the bandwagon now, getting caught up won’t seem so daunting! :)

ANNA: Sounds good, I will adjust my manga buying budget accordingly!

MJ: I missed volume two, and much catch up!

SEAN: The first How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend seemed to hit a bit too much on the ‘boring’ for my tastes, but we’ll see how it improves in its second volume.

Kagerou Daze gives us a 5th volume of time loops and social misfits.

In case you wished Log Horizon had more harem antics, here’s more of The West Wind Brigade. Though honestly the first volume was quite good.

Servant x Service is getting a print release, having been out digital for a while. It’s an omnibus, which gets it out faster, but can be exhausting for a gag manga title like this. I recommend reading in bits.

So I Can’t Play H! will no doubt compete with High School DxD for harem cliches in its 5th volume.

Sword Art Online has a 2nd volume in its Phantom Bullet adaptation.

Taboo Tattoo also gets a second volume, though I’ll be honest, I never made it through the first.

Lastly, we get a 2nd Yowamushi Pedal omnibus, for more HOT BIKING ACTION!

MICHELLE: Yaaaay!

ASH: Woohoo!

ANNA: Ack, another title I need to read!

MJ: Yes!

SEAN: April is showering us with manga. What’re you getting?

The Inugami Clan

April 21, 2016 by Ash Brown

Author: Seishi Yokomizo
Translator: Yumiko Yamazaki
U.S. publisher: ICG Muse
ISBN: 9784925080767
Released: July 2003
Original release: 1951

The Inugami Clan is one of Seishi Yokomizo’s most well-known works and is currently the only novel by the popular and prolific author of mystery and detective fiction to have been translated into English. Yokomizo completed The Inugami Clan in 1951. Yumiko Yamazaki’s English translation was published twice—first by ICG Muse 2003 and then again by Stone Bridge Press in 2007—but sadly both editions have since gone out of print. The Inugami Clan is one of many stories by Yokomizo which features the eccentric private investigator Kosuke Kindaichi, perhaps the author’s most notable, popular, and memorable character. (It’s interesting to note that the manga series Kindaichi Case Files is in part inspired by Yokomizo’s detective Kindaichi.) Like a number of Yokomizo’s other works, The Inugami Clan served as the basis for a live-action adaptation—director Kon Ichikawa’s award-winning film The Inugamis was released in 1976 and then remade again in 2006.

Sahei Inugami began his life as a poor and homeless orphan. He drifted from place to place until, at the age of seventeen, he was taken in by Daini Nonomiya, a Shinto priest at a shrine near Lake Nasu, and his wife. But by the end of his life, Sahei had become a wealthy and respected businessman, as well as the head of a dysfunctional family with very little love lost among its members. Sahei died in the mid-1940s, leaving behind a last will and testament that triggered a series of ghastly murders. One after another, people closely associated with Sahei began dying and the number of his potential heirs dwindled. Because of the strange and stained circumstances surrounding Sahei’s demise a private detective, Kosuke Kindaichi, was called to Nasu to investigate. However, his presence does little to stop the unfolding calamity until he delves more deeply into the closely kept secrets and hidden pasts of Sahei and the rest of the Inugamis.

I found The Inugami Clan to be an extraordinarily satisfying mystery. From the very beginning of the novel, Yokomizo provides the hints and clues needed to solve case, giving readers the opportunity to come to their own conclusions should they choose. There are many surprises as the story twists and turns, but everything falls beautifully into place by the end in a way that, although unexpected and arguably unbelievable, feels natural rather than forced. The already troubled relationships among the various members of the Inugami family along with the execution of Sahei’s peculiar will present numerous scenarios in which any one of the Inugamis could have a convincing motive to carry out the murders as well as the opportunity to act upon their ill intentions. Coincidences and deliberate actions come together to form a deadly situation where very few of the Inugamis can claim to be completely innocent. And so it is left to Kindaichi, and by proxy the reader, to piece together the facts and untangle an elaborate knot of passion, loyalty, and betrayal in order to deduce the culprit’s identity.

The Inugami Clan works so well as a novel and as a mystery because of Yokomizo’s close attention to the intricacies and complexities of human and familial relationships—people don’t always behave logically or act rationally when the lives and happiness of the ones who they love are at stake. As Kindaichi investigates the Inugami family and the murders it is revealed that everything that has happened can ultimately be traced back to the homosexual relationship rumored to have existed between Sahei and Daini; their closeness and intimacy has grave, unintended consequences decades later. A subtle thread of eroticism pervades The Inugami Clan, love and sexuality being a key part of the plot without necessarily being obvious. That combined with the dramatic scandals and dysfunction of the Inugamis as well as the bizarre and grotesque nature of the murders makes The Ingumai Clan both thrilling and engaging if at times somewhat outrageous. However, the novel’s popularity is completely understandable; I only wish that more of Yokomizo’s work would be translated.

My Week in Manga: April 11-April 17, 2016

April 18, 2016 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

As I alluded to a few months ago, I’ve been in the process of trying to purchase a house. Well, I finally made it happen! I signed all of the papers on Friday, so for the foreseeable I’m going to be a little preoccupied getting things ready and moving over to the new place. It’s all sorts of exciting, but it does mean I’ll have significantly less time to devote to other things for a while. And so, I’m back to a reduced posting schedule at Experiments in Manga for the time being. Expect to continue to regularly see My Week in Manga, but there will probably only be one other review or feature most weeks. That all being said, last week I reviewed the recently released Midnight Stranger, Volume 1, a supernatural boys’ love manga with a sense of humor (as well as some pretty great monster designs) by Bohra Naono. I haven’t seen a lot of manga news over the last week, although I’m sure there has been some, but I did want to mention that Viz Media has licensed Kohske and Syuhei Kamo’s Gangsta: Cursed, a prequel series to Gangsta (a manga of which I’m particularly fond.)

Quick Takes

Itazura na Kiss, Volumes 7-8 by Kaoru Tada. It’s been a little while since I’ve read any of Itazura na Kiss, but it’s a pretty easy series to put down and pick up again since nothing of major importance really ever seems to change all that much. I have been enjoying the series, but I’m starting to long for a little more forward momentum and the characters are beginning to wear me down a little. At the same time, while the overall pacing is fairly slow, Tada is expert in changing and moving the story along just enough to keep things interesting. Kotoko and Naoki are now newlyweds, but otherwise their relationship is pretty par for the course. Kotoko is utterly infatuated with Naoki, and Naoki continues to be fairly cold towards her. Thankfully, Kotoko is (slowly) beginning to mature and determine for herself what it is she really wants to do with her life. It can be difficult to tell at times, but Naoki really does love Kotoko and cares for her well-being, he just tends to be a total ass about it which can be tiresome. Granted, it does make it particularly satisfying when he ends up being thrown out of his comfort zone.

The Judged by Akira Honma. Having greatly enjoyed the first two volumes of Honma’s Rabbit Man, Tiger Man boys’ love series, and considering the fact that the third and final volume is unlikely to ever be released in English, I decided to seek out the creator’s other works in translation. I didn’t realize it until I finished reading manga, but The Judged was actually Honma’s first volume to be released as a professional mangaka. The titular story is about a prosecuting investigator and member of the Diet who are navigating a political scandal, while their shared past makes things even more complicated. The Judged also includes Honma’s debut manga “Like a White Phantom” about an initially antagonistic relationship between two young doctors. For the most part, the focus of The Judged is more on the drama and less on the romance. The manga tends to be fairly serious and the relationships aren’t necessarily the most healthy. They’re not always particularly happy relationships, either. Many of the characters have some pretty heavy personal issues do deal with, including physical and emotional abuse.

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, Side: P3, Volume 1 by So Tobita. The Persona series is perhaps the most popular subset of the larger Shin Megami Tensei video game franchise. Persona Q is a relatively recent spinoff from 2014 made for the Nintendo 3DS which combines characters from Persona 3 and Persona 4—a player can choose to experience the game from either perspective. Likewise, a reader can choose from either the Side: P3 or Side: P4 manga adaptation which present two different sides of the same story. When it comes to manga adaptations of video games, there seem to be two major types, those that are accessible to anyone and those that are intended to be appreciated by fans of the original. So far, the Side P3 manga would seem to be one of the latter, requiring some prior knowledge of the franchise to fully enjoy the series. Very little is explained about the world or the characters in the manga itself. But for those who are familiar with Persona, the Side: P3 manga can be a fun way to quickly experience or re-experience the story and game of Persona Q, though I’m not sure that it really adds anything new.

Manga the Week of 4/20

April 14, 2016 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Anna N, Ash Brown and MJ 1 Comment

SEAN: There’s a lot of variety out next week. Something from almost every major publisher.

Kodansha gives us a fourth volume of L♥DK, everyone’s favorite “what is this thing you call consent?” shoujo romance.

MICHELLE: *snerk*

SEAN: And Noragami’s monthly release schedule chugs along with lucky Vol. 13.

Also reaching Vol. 13 is Say “I Love You”, which was introduced at the same time as My Little Monster but has zoomed past it, moving on to new volumes and new complications.

MICHELLE: I’m glad that one of them at least is still going to be around a while!

ANNA: So far behind on this, I feel guilty.

SEAN: And there’s the penultimate 6th volume of A Silent Voice, which ended with a hell of a cliffhanger last time, so I’m expecting some very good resolution from it.

ASH: I’m a few volumes behind, but this is such a great series.

SEAN: One Peace has the 2nd volume of the manga adaptation of Rise of the Shield Hero (they call it a “manga companion”, but I think it’s just a standard adaptation of the light novel).

ASH: I’m pretty sure you’re correct.

SEAN: Seven Seas has enjoyed giving us some bleak horror lately, and for those who love it, here’s a 7th Magical Girl Apocalypse.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the first volume of My Monster Secret, and so look forward to the second.

Vertical debuts a one-shot called The Gods Lie, which they are touting as a sports manga license. I suspect their tongue is firmly in their cheek, but either way it will be worth your time.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to reading this one.

ASH: As am I! I loved Immortal Rain, so I’m glad to see more of Ozaki’s work being released in English.

MICHELLE: Oh, I hadn’t made that connection! Awesome!

ANNA: What!!!! I have the first two volumes of Immortal Rain and am sad I didn’t pick up the whole series when it was in print. This is now in my Amazon cart!

MJ: Oh, this is exciting!

SEAN: And there’s a 4th Ninja Slayer volume. Are there ninjas? Will they slay? Read on to find out!

Who’s the cool seinen manga that’s got all the indie comic artists raving? Dorohedoro? Damn right. Vol. 18 drops next week.

ASH: Yeah!

SEAN: There’s also an 8th volume of the Perfect Edition of Monster.

And a 6th Tokyo Ghoul, which everyone loves but which I am strangely indifferent to.

MJ: If it makes you feel better, I haven’t gotten into it, either.

SEAN: Yen, meanwhile, is releasing its light novels a week before its other stuff, which is nice of them. That means we get a 3rd volume of Black Bullet, with its loli killers.

There’s a 4th volume of “what if Satan worked at McDonald’s” favorite The Devil Is A Part-Timer!. And if you like digital titles (as I do), Vols. 1-4 will be available digitally next week as well.

The Irregular at Magic High School finally debuts, and it’s apparently one of the most polarizing titles in Western anime fandom. I’ve heard it called “Batman at Hogwarts”, myself. Also, is the term Mary Sue – or in this case Gary Stu – even relevant anymore?

And there’s a 5th volume of Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon?, and its title continues to be the worst thing about it – I am eager for more.

Spice & Wolf comes to an end with its 17th novel, proving that you can combine cute wolf girls and economic theory if you try.

ASH: I stopped reading about half-way through, but I am glad to see that Yen was able to publish the entire series.

SEAN: Lastly, the 7th Sword Art Online novel, Mother’s Rosary, is widely considered one of its best, possibly as Kirito plays only a minor role. Asuna fans should be very happy.

MJ: I’m down for this.

SEAN: Which titles make your pure maiden’s heart tremble?

Midnight Stranger, Vol. 1

April 14, 2016 by Ash Brown

Creator: Bohra Naono
U.S. publisher: Viz Media
ISBN: 9781421579689
Released: April 2016
Original release: 2013

Midnight Stranger is the third boys’ love manga and the first series by Bohra Naono to be released in English. Naono’s first manga to be translated was Yokai’s Hunger which was initially released in print by Media Blasters but is now available digitally through Sublime Manga, the boys’ love line associated with Viz Media. Sublime also released Naono’s second manga in translation, Three Wolves Mountain, which along with Norikazu Akira’s Honey Darling was actually one of the publishers’ debut titles. Midnight Stranger is a short, two-volume series, the first of which was published in Japan in 2013. In English, Midnight Stranger, Volume 1 was released by Sublime in 2016. Like Naono’s other translated manga, Midnight Stranger has strong supernatural elements which can be fun but rather peculiar, a fair amount of comedy, and Naono’s penchant for older men. I’ve enjoyed Naono’s work in the past, so I was very glad to have the opportunity to receive a copy of the first volume of Midnight Stranger for review.

Midnight Stranger, Volume 1 contains two major storylines which aren’t directly related to each other but which could conceivably take place in the same setting. The volume opens with the titular “Midnight Stranger” and its followup chapter “Love-Hate” which are about Roitschaggata, a minor goat spirit, and Xiuhtecuhtli, an old and powerful god of fire. (The two are also the focus of the volume’s bonus chapter, “The Point of a Day Off.”) Centuries ago, due to the ugliness of his original form, Roi was mistaken for a monster rather than the benevolent spirit of healing that he is. He was nearly burned alive by a mob of humans, but was saved and granted more appealing looks by Xiu. The two of them now live together in modern-day Japan—Roi utterly devoted to his god, and Xiu oddly fond and possessive of his adoring servant. The second storyline collected in Midnight Stranger, and the basis for the four-panel comics included at the volume’s end, is “Hollow Romance,” a manga about a seemingly innocent young man named Takara Mori who is both more and less than he seems and the literal demons surrounding him.

Although I’ve somewhat come to expect it from Naono’s manga, the supernatural aspects of Midnight Stranger are all over the place and the worldbuilding isn’t necessarily cohesive. Xiu is based on an Aztec deity, Roi I believe is inspired by Swiss traditions, “Hollow Romance” incorporates Nordic legends, and there is a variety of other mythological beings present in the manga as well. It’s never really explicitly explained why all of these deities, demons, spirits, and legends from vastly different cultures and geographies are interacting with one another, but clearly in Midnight Stranger gods and beliefs aren’t restricted by countries or borders. The unexpected combinations, while seemingly haphazard, can be surprisingly entertaining, though. But while Naono has taken inspiration from multiples sources, which is something that I enjoy about her work, her interpretations are very much her own and frequently very little of the original tales remain. Xiu, for example, retains his name and has an appropriately fiery temper and flashy personality, but otherwise his connection to Mesoamerica is largely nonexistent.

Humor is also prominent in Midnight Stranger, though in tone the manga does shift between comedic and ominous. Granted, there is plenty to find amusing or ridiculous in Midnight Stranger, such as Xiu making his living in the mortal world as an idol or Roi gaining a young boy he cured as a best friend and confidant. Roi is actually the source of quite a bit of the humor in Midnight Stranger. He has a complex about his appearance, not realizing how adorable his new goat form is or how attractive he is as a human. He’s also apparently a little slow in recognizing that Xiu has feelings for him—readers aren’t privy to the hundreds of years of the extremely tedious evolution of their relationship, just the time period in which Roi finally figures it out and the heated sex that follows. Whereas Roi and Xiu’s story becomes more comedic as it progresses, Naono takes the opposite approach with “Hollow Romance” which becomes increasingly darker and grotesque, all while still maintaining a sense of humor. I particularly liked “Hollow Romance,” but I am curious to see what lies in store for Roi and Xiu in the next volume of Midnight Stranger.

Thank you to Viz Media for providing a copy of Midnight Stranger, Volume 1 for review.

Pick of the Week: Old Familiar Faces

April 11, 2016 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown and Anna N Leave a Comment

SEAN: Much as I Am A Hero is award-winning and intriguing, I am not going to pick a zombie apocalypse as my pick of the week without reading it first. So let’s go with the default ‘second week of the month’ pick, Magi, which could always use more good publicity, as it’s consistently fun to read.

MICHELLE: Sound reasoning, Sean. Magi for me, too.

ASH: Okay, I’ll take the plunge and pick the debut I Am a Hero. I’m actually not especially interested in the zombie angle, but I’ve heard great things about the series from people whose opinions I trust. (I’m really looking forward to the next volume of The Ancient Magus’ Bride, too, though!)

ANNA: I gotta go with Magi too! One day I will get caught up, but I love the earlier volumes in the series that I’ve read.

My Week in Manga: April 4-April 10, 2016

April 11, 2016 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

In case anyone was wondering just how much I was looking forward to seeing Akiko Higashimura’s Princess Jellyfish released in English, I apparently ended up devoting an entire week to it at Experiments in Manga. (Sort of.) First was the announcement of the winner of the Princess Jellyfish giveaway, which also includes a list of upcoming manga releases that I and the giveaway participants are especially looking forward to. (Yes, Princess Jellyfish was mentioned multiple times, and not just by me.) The honor of the first in-depth manga review for April goes to the first Princess Jellyfish omnibus which I (unsurprisingly) loved. I’m enjoying the manga immensely, but I’m especially looking forward to getting to the point in the series where the anime adaptation left off. Princess Jellyfish even got a specific mention in March’s Bookshelf Overload, which was posted over the weekend.

There were a few manga-related things caught my eye last week. Brigid Alverson’s article on the state of the North American manga industry, which focuses on the impact of a few of the top-selling series, is now free to read at Publishers Weekly. The translation and quality of Digital Manga’s original release of the first volume of Kou Yoneda’s Twittering Birds Never Fly drew a fair amount of criticism from fans, so much so that the publisher decided to completely revise and re-release it. Apparently 200 of the 223 pages were redone in some fashion. The new edition should be available sometime in late May or early June. Also, Vertical launched it’s most recent licensing and readership survey for anyone who might have any manga or light novel requests. And last but certainly not least—Kodansha Comic’s will be releasing more of Vinland Saga!

Quick Takes

Beyond: The Queer Sci-Fi & Fantasy Comic Anthology edited by Sfé R. Monster. A fair number of independent queer comics anthologies have been released relatively recently, but I’m always happy to see more. Beyond collects twenty works from twenty-seven creators. I was previously familiar with a few of the contributors, but most of them were actually new to me. Overall, it’s a strong, well-thought-out collection. The anthology shows a wonderful range of stories and characters, but I was especially happy to see a wide variety of diverse trans identities represented. While many of the works in Beyond include some romantic elements, romance isn’t at all at the forefront of the collection. Instead, the stories tend towards science fictional and fantastical adventures—space exploration, battles against monsters, survival in strange worlds, and so on—in which queer characters are not only the protagonists but the heroes of their stories. A second Beyond anthology focusing on urban fantasy and post-apocalyptic worlds is currently in the works; I’m looking forward to it a great deal and will definitely be picking it up.

Goodnight Punpun, Omnibus 1 by Inio Asano. The first omnibus of Goodnight Punpun is one of the manga that has left the greatest impression on me so far this year, though I have difficulty coherently explaining why I find it so extraordinary. The series has been described as a surreal and dark coming-of-age story, which is accurate but doesn’t quite capture the intense experience of actually reading the manga. Punpun is the titular character, an elementary school student who, along with the rest of his family, is portrayed as a bird-like creature. This perhaps slightly softens the blows of the story. In addition to dealing with the normal sorts of problems associated with getting older, Punpun’s family is also violently falling apart. And if growing up wasn’t terrifying enough, most of the adults in Goodnight Punpun seem to be on the verge of insanity if they haven’t already succumbed to it. Although there are wonderful moments of hope and humor, the worldview presented in Goodnight Punpun is a pessimistic one and Punpun is learning some very hard truths. Goodnight Punpun is heart-wrenching, but very good.

Paradise Residence, Volume 1 by Kosuke Fujishima. Oh My Goddess! has been one of the mainstays of the North American manga industry, so it’s probably no too surprising that one of Fujishima’s most recent series, Paradise Residence, was licensed. I’m not entirely sure if the series is being released in an omnibus edition or not, but the first volume from Kodansha Comic’s also includes Volume 0 as bonus material at the end. I would actually recommend reading Volume 0 first as some of the jokes and characterization in Volume 1 make much more sense with more context. This is important because the humor, which can be legitimately if inconsistently funny, tends to be based on the characters’ personalities. Despite some of the more outrageous scenarios in Paradise Residence, the comedy is actually fairly subdued. Paradise Residences is a largely episodic manga about dorm and school life at an all-girls boarding school. At times Paradise Residence can be a really sweet and charming series, but every once in a while some nonsensical fanservice is thrown in that’s more distracting than anything else.

Bookshelf Overload: March 2016

April 9, 2016 by Ash Brown

Well, while still not as large as some previous months, March did end my streak of smaller monthly hauls, but I swear I have some legitimate excuses! First of all, Kodansha Comics apparently remembered my mailing address and the fact that I read and review manga. It’s been about half a year since I last received any review copies, but it was a big box so it should keep me happily occupied for some time. A bunch of Kickstarter rewards arrived in March as well, but since those were already paid for, they didn’t impact my budget for March, just my shelf space. As for the other March arrivals that I was particularly excited about, at the top of the list is Princess Jellyfish, Omnibus 1 by Akiko Higashimura (which I just reviewed earlier this week). A few of Viz Media’s March releases also had my attention and wallet, such as Real, Volume 14 by Takehiko Inoue, the first Goodnight Punpun omnibus by Inio Asano, and Yoshiki Tanaka’s novel Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Volume 1: Dawn. And I’m very happy to have Ken Liu’s first short story collection The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories in my hands. The volume includes his award-winning story “Mono no Aware” which I first read in The Future Is Japanese and which was my introduction to his work. Hopefully I’ll find some time to actually read (and review) the collection soon!

Manga!
Attack on Titan, Volumes 17-18 by Hajime Isayama
Attack on Titan: Before the Fall, Volume 7 written by Ryo Suzukaze, illustrated by Satoshi Shiki
Crime and Punishment by Osamu Tezuka
Fairy Girls, Volume 1 by Boku
Fairy Tail: Blue Mistral, Volume 2 written by Hiro Mashima, illustrated by Rui Watanabe
Fairy Tail: Ice Trail, Volume 1 by Yuuskuke Shirato
Forget Me Not, Volume 1 by Nao Emoto
Goodnight Punpun, Omnibus 1 by Inio Asano
I’ve Seen It All, Volume 3 by Shoko Takaku
Kiss Him, Not Me, Volume 2 by Junko
LDK, Volume 2 by Ayu Watanabe
Livingstone, Volumes 1-2 written by Tomohiro Maekawa, illustrated by Jinsei Kataoka
Maga-Tsuki, Volume 1 by Hoshino Taguchi
Ninja Slayer Kills, Volume 2 by Koutarou Sekine
Noragami: Stray Stories, Volume 1 by Adachitoka
Otouto no Otto, Volume 2 by Gengoroh Tagame
Paradise Residence, Omnibus 1 by Kosuke Fujishima
Persona 4, Volume 2 by Shuji Sogabe
Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth Side: P3, Volume 1 by So Tobita
Princess Jellyfish, Omnibus 1 by Akiko Higashimura
Prison School, Omnibus 3 by Akira Hiramoto
Real, Volume 14 by Takehiko Inoue
Real Account, Volume 1 written by Okushou, illustrated by Shizumu Watanabe
A Silent Voice, Volume 4 by Yoshitoki Oima
Storm Fairy by Osamu Tezuka

Comics!
Anatomy of Melancholy: The Best of a Softer World by Joey Comeau and Emily Horne
The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye by Sonny Liew
Bulldogs written by Dale Lazarove, illustrated by Chas Hunter and Si Arden
Curveball by Jeremy Sorese
Dates: An Anthology of Queer Historical Fiction Stories edited by Zora Gilbert
Dream Tube by Rebekka Dunlap
Food Porn edited by Gina Biggs
Cuttings: A Johnny Wander Collection by Yuko Ota and Ananth Panagariya
Lucky Penny by Yuko Ota and Ananth Hirsh
The Young Protectors, Volume 1 written by Alex Woolfson, illustrated by Adam Dekraker and Veronica Gandini

Novels!
Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Volume 1: Dawn by Yoshiki Tanaka
United States of Japan by Peter Tieryas
Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama

Anthologies!
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu

Anime!
My Neighbor Seki directed by Yūji Mutoh

Princess Jellyfish, Vol. 1

April 8, 2016 by Ash Brown

Creator: Akiko Higashimura
U.S. publisher: Kodansha
ISBN: 9781632362285
Released: March 2016
Original release: 2009
Awards: Kodansha Manga Award

Akiko Higashimura’s Kodansha Manga Award-winning Princess Jellyfish wasn’t a manga series that I expected would be licensed for an English-language release. Anecdotally, josei manga hasn’t historically done particularly well in the North American market. And on top of that, Princess Jellyfish is a longer series, currently ongoing at more than fifteen volumes, which can also make licensing prohibitive. When Kodansha Comics announced that it would be publishing Princess Jellyfish in print in English, fulfilling the hopes of many fans, I was thrilled. My knowledge of Princess Jellyfish stems from the 2010 anime adaptation directed by Takahiro Omori which I thoroughly enjoyed. However, as the anime only adapted a small portion of the series, it left me wanting more, so I am very excited to see the original Princess Jellyfish manga available in translation. Kodansha’s release of the series is an omnibus edition with a larger trim size and color pages included. The first omnibus, published in 2016, collects the first two volumes of the series as released in Japan in 2009.

Tsukimi is the youngest resident of Amamizukan in Tokyo, a communal apartment building catering to a particular type of woman who is completely and utterly devoted to her specific interests despite societal expectations—the fujoshi. Chieko, the manager of Amamizukan, collects traditional Japanese dolls and kimono. Mayaya is obsessed with Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Jiji has an intense appreciation for older, distinguished gentleman. Banba is fixated on trains. Mejiro is a reclusive boys’ love mangaka. And as for Tsukimi, ever since her mother took her to an aquarium as a child, she has adored jellyfish. Tsukimi’s love of jellyfish is one of her remaining ties to her mother who died of illness many years ago. It’s also that passion that leads to her chance encounter with Kuranosuke, the illegitimate son of a prominent politician who she initially assumes is a stylish and fashionable young woman due to the way he was dressed at the time. Their meeting will not only have a great impact on Tsukimi, but on everyone living at Amamizukan.

Like the residents of Amamizukan, Kuranosuke goes against society’s set roles and expectations, but in his case he’s doing it deliberately rather than it being an unintentional side effect of an obsession. Princess Jellyfish plays with the notions of outward appearance and self-expression in some really interesting and satisfying ways. I’m generally skeptical of stories that put an emphasis on beauty and looks or that make use of dramatic makeovers (for various reasons, Tsukimi and the rest of the Amamizukan fujoshi become targets of Kuranosuke’s enthusiasm for fashion and makeup), but Princess Jellyfish is a series that recognizes that a person’s appearance is only one part of an extremely complicated whole and that attractiveness is much more than skin deep. It also recognizes that there is tremendous power in someone being able to influence other people’s perceptions of who they are and that first impressions are often rightly or wrongly based on what can be visibly seen. Kuranosuke understands this and uses that knowledge to his advantage, as does the series antagonist Inari—a woman paving the way to the demolition of Amamizukan to make way for new urban development. Through blackmail and her own sex appeal, she leverages the importance placed on appearances and society’s inherent sexist prejudices for her own benefit, often finding the circumstances to be distasteful but the feeling of being in control of them intoxicating.

While it is the impetus for much of the story’s forward movement in the first omnibus, the threat of losing Amamizukan is only one of many intertwined plot threads in Princess Jellyfish. Tsukimi’s maturation as she continues to deal with the pain of her mother’s death and begins to fall in love for the first time is very important to the series as is Kuranosuke’s complicated family history and relationships. Although Kuranosuke is heterosexual, considering his custom of dressing as a woman his presence in the manga brings additional elements of queerness and gender fluidity to the series which I especially enjoy. (Also worth mentioning: the Princess Jellyfish translation notes are very thorough and valuable in explaining some of the nuances of Japanese word usage and terminology in regards to various gender and queer identities, which can be quite different from their Western counterparts.) Princess Jellyfish incorporates a fair amount of comedy which is one of the reasons the manga has such charm. But while Kuronosuke’s fashion choices and gender performance can result in humorous situations, the series treats him as a person and not as a joke, which I greatly appreciate. In fact, Princess Jellyfish has an entire cast full of wonderful characters which is perhaps the series’ greatest strength.

Manga the Week of 4/13

April 7, 2016 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Anna N, Ash Brown and MJ Leave a Comment

SEAN: Technically, this is the smallest week of the month. That does not mean there aren’t a lot of titles, just slightly less than the deluge of the other weeks.

I Am A Hero has been a long-awaited title here, and Dark Horse has it. It’s not just a zombie apocalypse manga, it’s a multiple award-winning zombie apocalypse manga, which runs in Big Comic Spirits (yes, that means it’s another seeming Viz title that went to Dark Horse – possibly for aesthetic reasons, like Gantz). This is an omnibus of the first two volumes.

MICHELLE: I’m eager to see reviews of this, as I can’t tell yet whether it’s something I’d like.

ANNA: I’m also intrigued by this series.

ASH: I’m very excited for this one, even considering that I’m a bit burned out on zombies.

SEAN: And while one popular title begins, another ends, as we see the last Lone Wolf and Cub omnibus, Vol. 12. But fear not, New Lone Wolf and Cub is still around.

ASH: I’m so glad that Lone Wolf and Cub is back in print in its entirety in an edition that doesn’t cause as much eyestrain.

SEAN: And we have a giant omnibus of the Evangelion spinoff Campus Apocalypse, which is a sort of shoujo-ish BL-ish mystery-ish take on the series. Ish.

ASH: Ish, eh?

SEAN: Kodansha theoretically gives us a 34th volume of Air Gear. I say theoretically as of all the titles that have sliding release dates, Air Gear’s has been the most egregious – don’t blame me if it’s delayed till August by next week.

Attack on Titan: Before the Fall turns out to be a much longer spinoff than I expected, as we’re at 7 volumes and still running.

Fairy Tail 53 continues… some plot, I guess, I’m about 20 volumes behind by now, alas. There will be fights and nudity, no doubt. The staple of all Shonen Magazine series.

And Tsubasa World Chronicle 2… I got nothin’, sorry. MJ?

MJ: I… don’t either. I admit I haven’t been reading this, and suddenly I’m feeling kinda guilty.

MICHELLE: I can’t remember whether I didn’t know this existed or whether I did and promptly forgot. Which is worse? I dunno; I guess I’ve still got CLAMP fatigue.

SEAN: Seven Seas has the 4th volume of dark romantic fantasy The Ancient Magus’ Bride, which I quite like.

ASH: As do I!

SEAN: And there’s a 3rd volume of awkward college romance Golden Time.

And also a 3rd of Monster Guy gag manga Merman In My Tub.

SubLime has a new debut, the first volume of Midnight Stranger, which apparently involves goat demons? I assume they’re sexy goat demons.

MJ: Goat demons do not sound promising.

ASH: Of course they’re sexy goat demons, Sean.

SEAN: Udon has the 3rd volume of Steins;Gate and its damned semicolon of awful.

Viz gives us a 58th volume of Case Closed, which is a lot.

And a 17th Itsuwaribito, which is another series that turns out to be much longer than I had originally expected.

There’s also a 17th Magi, but I’m absolutely delighted that it’s running this long. I still boggle this is written by the same person who gave us Sumomomo Momomo.

MICHELLE: It is?! I never noticed.

SEAN: Lastly, there’s a new manga debut with Monster Hunter: Flash Hunter, which I think is primarily for the PokeMarket, though I could be wrong.

As with many 2nd weeks of the month, it’s very much a hodgepodge of stuff. What catches your eye?

Manga Giveaway: Princess Jellyfish Giveaway Winner

April 6, 2016 by Ash Brown

And the winner of the Princess Jellyfish manga giveaway is… Laura!

As the winner, Laura will be receiving a copy of the first omnibus in Kodansha Comic’s English-language edition of Akiko Higashimura’s Princess Jellyfish. There are quite a few manga releases that I’m looking forward to in 2016, but the debut Princess Jellyfish in English was one of my most highly-anticipated. I was curious to know what other upcoming manga people were excited about, so for this giveaway I asked participants to tell me a little about some of the manga they’re looking forward to. Check out the giveaway comments for the detailed responses, and check out below for the compiled list of manga mentioned (plus a few more that I’ve added for good measure).

Some upcoming manga releases to look forward to in English:
Blame! by Tsutomu Nihei
Don’t be Cruel by Nekota Yonezou
Dissolving Classroom by Junji Ito
A Distant Neighborhood by Jiro Taniguchi
The Gods Lie by Kaori Ozaki
Guardians of the Louvre by Jiro Taniguchi
Haikyu!! by Haruichi Furudate
I Am a Hero by Kengo Hanzawa
In/Spectre written by Kyo Shirodaira, illustrated by Chasiba Katase
Magia the Ninth by Ichiya Sazanami
Neo Parasyte F by Various
Nichijou by Keiichi Arawi
The Osamu Tezuka Story by Toshio Ban
Princess Jellyfish by Akiko Higashimura
Orange by Ichigo Takano
Otherworld Barbara by Moto Hagio
Queen Emeraldas by Leiji Matsumoto
Rose of Versailles by Riyoko Ikeda
Sherlock: A Study in Pink by Jay
A Silent Voice by Yoshitoki Oima
Sweetness and Lightning by Gido Amagakure
That Wolf-Boy Is Mine! by Yoko Nogiri
Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle by CLAMP
Welcome to the Ballroom by Tomo Takeuchi
Yona of the Dawn by Mizuho Kusanagi

Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their excitement with me; quite a few of the manga that were mentioned are releases that I’m looking forward to a great deal as well. This should be a great year for manga!